All I Never Wanted
by SarCuppCake
Summary: What happens when Happy meets a woman who can give him everything he never knew he wanted?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of The Sons of Anarchy, sometimes I take them out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own River Garcia. **

**Summary: What happens when Happy meets a woman who can give him everything he never knew he wanted?**

**Author's Note:** So I decided to do a rewrite on this story, while you can expect many changes the core story that everyone knows and loves will still be the same. I also wanted to throw a few things out there that I had before just to keep from there being any confusion. This story does take place in Season 1 and will hopefully continue on through the rest of the seasons (to be honest I never know where my stories are going) to make things easier for the purposes of this story Happy is already patched in at SAMCRO.

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**Chapter 1  
**

The air in the Sons of Anarchy club house was filled with the smell of beer, body odor, and sex was enough to cause River Garcia's stomach to lurch. It was more than just the stale air and nerves that had her stomach rolling. Even though she knew, deep down that this where she needed to be she still couldn't help but be a little on the nervous side. Some of it had to do with the fact that she was chasing down a one night stand. While hooking up with some random, yet incredibly sexy guy, at an MC party or just in general wasn't something she was known for doing. In fact, that night almost two months ago had been the first time she'd ever done anything like that before. She'd known plenty of people who'd had one night stands. Hell her older brothers had been hooking up with females they barely knew for as long as she could remember. One thing that she'd learned from them was that there was an unwritten contract between both participants of the one night stand: It only lasted one night. The problem was that most people weren't emotionally able to deal with the unattached sex. She'd witnessed this happen first hand with her college roommate. After a horrible breakup with her long term boyfriend she wanted to do something reckless, something to dull the pain that she was feeling. So after way too much alcohol at a frat party she hooked up with a random guy. The next day after they went their separate ways she ended feeling about ten times worse and used on top of that. For the next three months she cyber stalked her one night stand. River's one night stand hadn't be anything like that, in fact if circumstances hadn't changed she could have easily imagined that when she was old and dying she'd write letters to her granddaughter about how wonderful that night had been, or some shit you'd see in a Lifetime Movie of the Week. But things had changed, they had changed a lot. Before she had a chance to pussy out, River pushed her way on into the clubhouse. It didn't take her long to find who she was looking for, across the room through a cloud of smoke her amber colored eyes met coal black ones.

Happy was sitting on one of the well-worn couches, a beer in his hand while he shot the shit with Tig and Juice. It was your typical Tuesday night in Charming, they were due for church any minute and following that your average night of drunken debauchery. It was the things that Happy loved about being a member of the Sons of Anarchy. The problem was that he was feeling restless, he'd been experiencing ever since they got back from patching over the Devil's Tribe a few weeks back. There was nothing that seemed to be able to sate the empty feeling that was deep inside of him. He was able to bury it in the days which were filled with legit work, taking care of his sick mother, and then there was club business. At night he wasn't able to ignore it, after he sent away whatever piece of ass he took into his bed he laid awake thinking about that night in Indian Hills. He'd never been one to let himself get overly attached to females. His life was hard and he didn't want that kinda blood on his hands, he wouldn't be the death of an innocent woman like that. Indian Hills had been different or maybe he'd been different in Indian Hills. He wasn't exactly sure but since then he felt like his insides were tangled up.

"Oh shit who the fuck is that?" Tig asked snapping Happy from his deep thoughts.

"New sweet butt?" Juice shrugged as he took a drink of his beer.

"She's wearing way too much." Tig said then cocked his head inside giving the girl a visual inspection. "Of course if it looks nearly as good without the clothes as it does with it might not be such a chore to unwrap it."

Juice laughed when he saw the gleam in Tig's eyes, "You're like a kid on Christmas morning."

"I have been a good boy this year." he said rubbing his hands together and causing Juice to bust out laughing.

It didn't take Happy long to figure out who they were talking about, standing close to the door, looking like she was ready to bolt was the object of many of Happy's late night obsessions. She was even more beautiful than he remembered, her long dark brown hair hung around her shoulders in waves. Unlike most of the women who practically lived at the club, she wore very little make up and what she did wear enhanced her flawless bronze complexion. She was dressed in pair of dark washed, boot cut jeans that hugged her curves, fitting her like a second skin, a white eyelet lace cami, and her normal 5'3 height was boosted by the brow stiletto boots she was wearing. Slowly Happy stood up; he dropped his bottle of beer in Juice's lap causing the younger man to curse and swipe the foam from the beer off of his pants. "She's not a sweet butt." He growled out before walking over to her his eyes locked with hers.

River swallowed hard as she looked up at Happy, to be honest she was afraid of looking away. In all of her memories of Happy Lowman she couldn't remember him being this intimidating. Maybe it was her nerves that were getting the better of her but not for the first time that evening was she second guessing coming there. "H-hey." She stammered slightly as she looked up at him.

"Hey." He said looking down at her his gaze never leaving her face. "What are you doing here?"

"Well you said that, you know, I couldn't find you here if I needed anything." She said quickly.

"Yeah." He said, he remembered telling her that but to be honest he never expected her to need him. Generally when someone did need him it was to help someone kill and to hide a body. For some reason he didn't think that was the reason she was here.

"Well…um….yeah we should go someplace that's alone and talk." She said.

"Here's good." He said. He knew that his brothers were listening in but he also knew if she needed to actually talk to him taking her to his dorm was a really bad idea. Taking a female to his dorm room equaled one thing and the only talking that went on was cries of 'oh fuck me harder'.

She peeked around him and couldn't help but smile a little when the guys all made quick movements to make it look like they were doing stuff and not blatantly listening. "Please don't make me do this here." She said looking up at him pleading.

"Just tell me what the fuck it is." He said clearly getting annoyed.

She took a deep breath if he wanted to do this here then she was game. "I'm pregnant."

Happy just stood there for a second he knew his mouth was probably hanging open in that completely ridiculous 'fly catching' sort of way. He knew that it wasn't possible for her to have said what he thought she said. It was pretty loud in the clubhouse it could be that she said something along the lines of 'I'm peperminted' of course that didn't make any sense what so ever. "Can you…repeat that?" he asked after a few seconds.

"I'm…pregnant." She said a little slower.

"And how did this happen?" he asked.

"Dude if you're not sure how it happened-"Juice started but was cut off by the death glare that Happy cut him.

She sighed and ran her hand through her hair; she imagined this going much smoother in her head on the drive over. While she didn't kid herself and imagine things going particularly well things going the way they were, well that hadn't been a thought in her head either. She hadn't expected to have to tell him this in front of all of his MC brothers. "Well when two people at a patch over party like each other-"

"Believe me I remember that part." He stopped her. He didn't need her to remind him of the details of that night, they were constantly replayed in his mind whenever he had a moment free.

"Happy let the girl continue she was getting to the good stuff." Tig said listening intently.

Without hesitating, he grabbed her by her upper arm and practically dragged her out of the room and down a dark hallway that was lined with doors. Once he reached the door leading to his dorm he pushed it opened and pulled her inside. "Start talking." He crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at her.

It was clear to River that he was pissed off at her and probably contemplating strangling her and now that they were while were alone she was starting to realize that if he did there would be no witnesses. "I tried to get you to talk about this in private." She pointed out.

"Yeah." He agreed and he was really wishing-at this point-that he'd taken her up on that offer. "We used condoms though….lots and lots of condoms." He ran his hand over his face.

River nodded in agreement, "Not the time in the shower."

"Fuck!" Happy growled causing River to flinch a little. The shower, of course it had to be the shower. That's when he had completely lost himself inside of her. It was the closest thing to peace he'd ever felt in his hard life, it had been a fucking good shower. "And you're sure that it's mine?" Even as he asked the question he knew the truth. River wasn't the type of girl that slept around her lack of experience that night was enough to prove that.

She nodded her arms wrapped around her middle as she watched him pace back and forth. She was starting to wonder if this was a good idea or not. Still she believed deep down that he had every right to know about his kid. When she found out that she was pregnant she'd made that decision. She wasn't going to keep him out of the baby's life, if he so chose to be in it. She knew how badly that hurt; her own mother had kept her father from knowing about her until she was 12. The only reason he found out about her then was because Rowna Garcia had gone to jail for illegal drug possession and some other charges and the state managed to track him down. Once she was out of jail, she'd come back for River and used her as leverage to get money from him.

"So um…I'll get you some money for you know whatever you need." He said. He didn't want to come out and say 'I'll get you abortion money', offending her was the last thing he wanted to do. Of course procedures like that this was expensive; he was already financially eaten up with the meds his mom was on.

River's brow wrinkled, "I didn't come here for money, Happy."

He gave her a confused look, "Then why the fuck did you come?"

She studied him for a few seconds before speaking, "I thought it was the right thing to do. This might not have been something we wanted but I figured you had the right to know that you're going to be a father."

The word 'father' hit Happy hard; he'd never really had one. His dad died in Vietnam a few months before the soldiers were called back. Throughout his childhood he remembered a few guys that his mother had dated though nothing was very serious. She had been more concerned about making sure that life was good for him or at least that's what she'd always told her. As he became older he knew that it was really another story entirely. She had no desire to be with anyone else she'd buried that part of her heart when Doug Lowman died. "I don't know how to be anyone's father." He said his rough voice low enough that he wasn't even sure if she'd heard him or not.

She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by a loud bang on the door. "Church!" one of the guys called from the other side of the door.

"Gimme a second." Happy yelled over his shoulder than looked down at River. "Stay here we'll finish when I'm done."

River nodded, "Alright." He nodded and walked out of the room, he studied her face before turning to walk out of the room.

Happy walked into the chapel and took his normal seat at the table and ran his hand over his face. If someone would have told him that one simple conversation would completely exhaust him he would have called bullshit on them. While he loved his club, he knew this meeting was going to be excruciating he wanted to get through it as painlessly as possible, "You alright brother?" Clay asked.

Happy nodded, "Just tired." It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either.

Clay nodded, "Heard you were having some trouble with a sweet butt."

"Of course you did." Happy glared at Tig and Juice. "It's nothing, and she's not a sweet butt."

Jax nodded at Happy, "That girl you picked up at the patch over a few weeks back?"

He nodded, "She said she's pregnant."

"Was that her….cage out front?" Clay bit out meaning the tiny Chevy Aveo that was parked in front of the club. He didn't understand the purpose of those tiny fuel efficient wind-up toys.

"Yeah." Happy said.

"Run the plates." Clay said to Juice. "I want all the dirt you can find on her. Last thing we need is some little bitch looking to become an Old Lady."

Juice nodded, "I'll see what I can find."

Happy wasn't sure what pissed him off more, Clay thinking River was looking to screw him over or that he called her a little bitch. "Look she's not fucking like that." He growled, "Let me handle this my way."

"Just trying to protect my club is all." Clay said the tone of his voice said reasonable but his actions were anything but. Knowing that Happy wouldn't relent on the subject he sighed. "Why don't I put Gemma on her?"

Happy nodded, he knew that Clay wasn't going to let this go. Gemma Teller-Marrow was Clay's Old Lady and when it came to the females related to the club she was he Queen the rest of the Old Ladies were like her Ladies-in-Waiting and the Crow Eaters and sweet butts were so beneath her they didn't exist. While Happy didn't know exactly what was going on with him and River he knew that if she wanted to survive around the club Gemma would be the first step to that.

Knowing that this could get pretty damn nasty quickly Piney changed the subject. "I've got a proposal to bring to the club. An old war buddy of mine is looking to score some of our AKs at a family rate." With that the meeting went from being all about Happy's personal life to business as usual.

After their business affairs were in order, Happy made his way back to his door, to where River was still hiding out. He could tell by the look on her face and the way she absently flipped through the motorcycle magazine that she was probably bored out of her mind. Still he found the whole scene kinda cute. "You hungry?" he asked.

"Yeah," River said as she stood up and stretched a little.

"I figured we could hit the diner in town." He said as he picked up his hoodie off of the back of his chair and wrapped it around her.

"Sounds nice." She said as she slipped her arms into the sleeves.

"Come on." He said wrapping his arm around her and leading her out of the club and to his bike.

It wasn't until Happy was speeding towards the diner with River on the back of his Harley that it dawned on him that giving a pregnant woman a ride on it was a stupid move. Still he had to admit that he liked her there, the way her warm body felt pressed against his, her arms wrapped tightly around him. He even loved the way she laughed when he sped up. It wasn't long before they'd made it to Main Street and he was parking his bike in front of the diner, "You alright?" Happy asked as they climbed off of the bike.

"That was amazing." River said unhooking her helmet and handing it to Happy before running her hand through her wind tossed hair.

"Probably was a poor judgment call on my part." He said looking down at her, "You being pregnant and all."

"Don't be too hard on yourself." She smiled at him. "I'm just in the first trimester; the kid probably looks more like a sea monkey than a baby."

Happy gave a short laugh, "A sea monkey huh?"

"Pretty much." She said.

"Come on, we need to fatten you up some." He said pressing his hand to the small of her back and directed her into the diner. He situated them in a booth towards the back of the restaurant; it gave him perfect view of both of the exits. It was a habit he'd developed over the years.

River opened her menu but watched Happy over the top of it; she could tell by the way his eyes swept over the room that he was taking in everything and everybody around them. While they waited for the waitress to take their order they made bullshit small talk. Both of them were ignoring the major thing that was going on between them. "Chocolate chip pancakes?" Happy raised an eyebrow as their server walked away.

"What?" she asked. "It covers two of the major food groups."

"And which two would that be?" he asked.

"Chocolate and wheat," River said, "And I don't want to hear it Mr. Forget-The-Steak-Bring-Me-The-Whole-Goddamn-Cow-an d-Make-Sure-It's-Still-Bleeding." Her eyes were twinkling with mischief.

Happy laughed, "I think I'm going to have to start ordering for you, I mean how else is that Sea Monkey going to get any bigger?"

"Trust me I have no trouble gaining weight." River said then took a deep breath and then looked up at him, "So how exactly are we going to do this?"

"Honestly, I haven't a goddamn clue." He reached his hand in to his kutte to pull out a pack of cigarettes before realizing that he'd left them back at the clubhouse. "It's new territory for me too."

"You're under no obligation here." She said.

He raised an eyebrow at her, "You really believe that?"

"I just don't want you to think that I'm trying to trap you." She said her soft amber eyes meeting his coal black ones.

Happy reached across the table and cupped her chin in his hand, "Believe me if I would have thought that I would have booted you out on your ass."

River waited until the waitressed had served them their food before saying, "Well, I think that the best solution would be if I relocated here."

Happy shook his head, "No I don't want you to have to uproot your life."

"It makes the most sense, you're…" she trailed off trying to find the right word, "Work is here. There are plenty of schools in Charming I'm sure that it wouldn't be too difficult to find some work."

"Schools?" he asked confused.

"I'm a high school teacher. I specialize in art but I can also teach history." She said.

Happy bit back a groan; ever since he'd watched that Van Halen: _Hot for Teacher_ video when he was a kid he'd always had that naughty teacher fantasy. "Okay." He finally conceded. Deep down he was glad that she'd offered to relocate to Charming and if he was honest with himself, he liked the idea that she was willing to uproot her life for him. He'd never come out and demand that she do so, he had a feeling that it would probably do more harm than good. More than anything he wanted to keep things good between him and River. The club was full of guys who had fucked up relationships with the mothers of their children. The last thing he wanted to do was put his family through that. He didn't want to be like Chibs who wasn't able to see his old lady and kid because he pissed off some asshole in Ireland; or Bobby who could only see his kids when his ex-wife was milking him for as much money as she could. On top of all of that one of the main reasons he'd transferred to SAMCRO was because his mother was in bad shape and he needed to be close to her.

"Good." River smiled at him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of The Sons of Anarchy, sometimes I take them out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own River Garcia.**

**Author's Note: I just wanted to thank everyone who's reading, reviewing, adding, and favoriting this story.**

**Chapter 2**

River was slightly disoriented when she woke up the next morning; it took her a few minutes to remember where she was at and what was going on. After they'd finished talking about how they were going to handle things, she and Happy had gone back to the clubhouse where she stayed the night in his dorm. The problem was that neither of them was really sure what to consider their relationship. The night before, they ended up sleeping in the same bed, River in one of his oversized tee shirts and Happy stayed on top of the blankets fully clothed. They might have settled things the night before as far as her moving to Charming, there were still many questions that were up in the air. River was sure that Happy wasn't the type of guy to the boyfriend/girlfriend touchy/feely relationship. There was something primal about the man; she kinda figured that if he decided he wanted someone they were his. She decided to let things go, there was no rush to slap a label on it just yet. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to sleep any longer she pushed herself up but soon as her head was off of the pillow her stomach lurched, sending her running to the bathroom to empty its contents.

Happy grunted when he felt the sudden movement beside of him in bed, he wasn't use to actually sleeping with someone. Sure there had been times when he 'spent the night' with a woman, when that happened they generally spent the whole night fucking. There might have been a few brief winks of sleep between the sex but this was different. In fact River was the first woman he'd ever not kicked out of his bed as soon as he was done with her. He'd never done well when he was out of his comfort zone and now he was in a completely different comfort zip code. He didn't know what to do with an old lady-not that he was making her, his old lady-he mentally clarified, or a kid for that matter. It wasn't like they made a book about this kind of thing either although it would probably be a best-seller among the MC sect. Something along the lines of _So You Got Your One Night Stand Pregnant At a Patch Over Party?_ He was on his own with this one and that scared the hell out of him. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard River in the bathroom retching. He stood up and ran his hand over his head as he walked to the bathroom door and pushed it opened with his shoulder. "You okay?" he asked.

"Peachy." She choked out as she retched again.

"Sounds like it." He said dryly as he made his way on into the small room and kneeled down behind her before gently pulling her long hair from her face.

When she'd finally got everything out of her stomach she flushed the toilet and leaned back against him. "Thanks." She said softly.

"It's nothing." He said a little awkwardly. "Normally I'd say let's get you some of the shit you had the night before, but I really don't think hair of the dog works in this case does it?" he asked looking down at her as his free hand wrapped around her waist.

"If only." She gave him a weak smile.

"We should probably get some food in that stomach of yours though." He said.

"I'll be fine in a few hours." She assured him as he helped her out of the floor.

It was a few hours later before River's stomach finally settled and after a very meager breakfast of dry toast and water she felt slightly better. The hot shower she had after made her feel a whole lot better, once she was done she came out of the bathroom dressed only in a towel. She smiled when she saw her suitcase sitting on the bed what surprised her more than anything was the woman who was sitting beside of it. She was and older woman, probably in her late forties or early fifties. Her hair was perfectly styled the long layers framed her face and had chunky blond high lights. She was dressed in a custom tailored leather jacket over a low cut black tank top and pair of jeans that looked like they'd been panted on that tucked into a pair of amazing knee high stiletto boots. On anyone else she'd think this style looked completely ridiculous, this woman however completely owned it. "This is slightly embarrassing." River said.

"I told Happy I'd bring your suitcase in, I ran into him in the parking lot. He had some club stuff to take care of." She said, "I'm Gemma Teller-Marrow."

"River Garcia." She said as she opened the suitcase and grabbed a fresh change of clothes.

"So I hear that congratulations are in order." Gemma said.

"Why is that?" River asked walking back into the bathroom; she left the door open so that Gemma could continue to talk to her while she dressed.

"Well there are a few things. Let's see, well there's the baby. Then you managed to get Happy's head spinning. You meet at Indian Hills right?" Gemma asked studying the younger woman.

"That's right." River said.

"Well apparently he's been distracted since that night. I gotta hand it to you, a lot of woman have tried but none of them have been able to do that."

River knew that the older woman was trying to push her buttons that she wanted to get a reaction out of her. As she came out of the bathroom, this time fully dressed she raised an eyebrow at Gemma.

"Look I have no idea who you are, and you don't know me. When I met Happy I wasn't planning on any of this to happen. I get the feeling that you're probably the Queen B around here the MC social order that's really important. To be honest I really don't know all that much about how this whole thing works and I'll probably end up pissing people off you being one of them by saying this. I didn't use Happy to get pregnant or become an Old Lady, hell I don't even really know what an Old Lady does. I will kick anyone's ass who says otherwise pregnant or not."

Gemma gave River a smile, "I like you. You have a backbone which is something you're definitely gonna need if you're going to make it in our world. I get the feeling that you know more about the MC social order than what you're leading on but that really doesn't matter right now." She said. "Finish getting ready, I told Hap I'd take care of you today."

Gemma hadn't been wrong when she said that River knew more about the MC lifestyle than she was leading on but that wasn't really the issue at the moment. "Take care of me?" she asked confused as she finished towel drying her hair.

"You got sick this morning these guys don't really know how to handle that kinda stuff," Gemma shrugged as she stood up, "He didn't want you left alone, I have some business to take care of in town thought you might like to tag along. After we're done, I figure we can grab lunch while we're out. There probably isn't much food in the kitchen."

"That sounds nice." River said.

* * *

Happy was sitting on the back of the tow truck having a cigarette with Jax when River and Gemma came out of the clubhouse and climbed into Gemma's Cadillac. "I can't believe you agreed to that." Jax said as took a drag from his cigarette.

Happy shrugged, "It kills two birds with one stone." He said lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag from it before blowing the smoke out. "Clay won't be happy until he's got information on River, my personal opinion on the matter won't sway him. He's like a fucking pit bull sometimes. Secondly, if she's going to hang around Charming she's going to have to deal with the MC and the first step to that is dealing with your crazy ass mom."

"So she's thinking about staying?" Jax asked. He let the comment about his crazy ass mom slide, mostly because Gemma Teller Marrow was crazy as hell but he adored her like most of the guys in the crew. She was the glue that held their MC together; she kept Clay in check and kept the sweetbutts and croweaters in their place at the bottom of the food chain.

"We talked about it; logically it's the only way to make this work." Happy shrugged. "How's your kid doing?" He changed the subject, he wasn't one to dwell too much on his personal life. It wasn't that he didn't trust Jax, hell he trusted all of his brothers. It was the fact that right now everything was pretty new and he still himself had no idea exactly what was going on between him and River.

"He's doing better." Jax took the final drag from his cigarette and flicked it to the ground, "Still in the toaster for now but he's getting stronger." Jax could tell by the look on Happy's face that he was deep in thought. "Hey man, we got enough trouble on our plate to worry about without you borrowing more. Your kid is going to be fine, Wendy was a crank whore."

"I don't know, she was pretty fucking sick this morning man." Happy said.

If someone would have told Jax that he would be having a bitch conversation with Happy Lowman of all people he never would have believed it. He'd know the guy for years and never knew him to spend more than a few hours with a woman, never took the same one to bed twice. The man had rules that none of the other club members understood. To see him this tore up over the health of a woman he barely knew went beyond his comprehension. "Well you know that's normal, first couple of months they puke their guts out and then they don't stop eating." He said.

Happy nodded running his hand over the back of his head, "You wouldn't happen to know where I can get a deal on a house would you?" That question seemed foreign to him, because the work he did for the club he'd never been one to put down roots anywhere. He lived at the clubhouse and to be honest he liked it that way. He wasn't one for materialistic bullshit he liked to be free to check out anytime he needed to. Still he couldn't ask River to live that kind of life and the clubhouse wasn't a place for a kid.

Jax grinned and slapped his hand on Happy's back, "I'll give Oswald a call, man has his dick in a little bit of everything."

"Something small, in a good neighborhood, something I don't have to fucking rebuild before she can move in." Happy said.

"Don't worry brother." Jax said as he stood up and walked towards the office.

* * *

River's brow wrinkled when Gemma pulled into the visitor's lot at St. Thomas Hospital. When Gemma had said that she had business in town this was the last thing she'd expected. "Um...Gemma I'm fine really." She said.

Gemma smiled, "Oh this isn't for you, my grandson is in the NICU here. I check on him during the days and Jax, my son, is here at night."

"Where's his mother?" River asked as they climbed out of the car.

"Rehab, that druggie bitch damn near killed him." River couldn't help but notice the edge to Gemma's voice at the mention of her former daughter-in-law.

As they went into the hospital, Gemma gave River a brief history of Wendy Case and the events that lead to Abel being born early. She explained how she'd found Wendy passed out from drugs and blood loss on the floor and how Abel had been born 10 weeks early, with a hereditary heart defect and a rip in his stomach. "Jesus." River said, to be honest it was the only thing she could think that was appropriate to say.

"He's doing better, the first few weeks were touch and go. It's really done a number on my Jax." Gemma said as they walked down the hallway and stopped in front of the NICU nursery window. "That's him,' she nodded to the tiny baby wearing a little blue bogging with the Sons of Anarchy reaper on it.

"He's beautiful." River said.

"That he is." Gemma agreed.

River looked from the baby back to his grandmother, "Is this a cautionary tale?"

"Make of it what you will." Gemma said with a shrug.

River looked back to the baby and from him back to his grandmother. "I don't do drugs; I never have and never will. Now I can drink grown men under the table when the mood strikes me but anything stronger than that terrifies me. I was-and I really, really hate this term-a drug baby. My mother shot up just before I was born. She was sent into mandatory rehab just after and when I was well enough I went home with my grandmother. As soon as my mother was out of rehab I was back with her and from that point on she yo-yoed back and forth with using. Then when I was 12 she went to jail for drug charges, among other things and I met my dad for the first time."

"Whatever happened to her?" Gemma asked by the tone of her voice it was clear that this was the last thing she'd expected to learn from River.

"Well she came back when I was about 15 and she used me as leverage to get money from my father. He wasn't rich exactly but he gave his family a good life, I lived with him but she was always threatening to take me from him if he didn't give her what she wanted. It didn't matter that she'd given up parental rights before she went into jail the last time. He did it because he knew how much she upset me. When I turned 18 she disappeared, she tracks me down every once and while claiming she's changed. She never stays around for long a week or two and she's off on another bender."

_And you believe her every time_, Gemma silently added. "I'm sorry baby." She said wrapping her arm around River's shoulder.

"I'm okay." She assured Gemma, "I learned to deal with it a long time ago and I got an amazing father and step mother out of it and three older brothers."

"Am I interrupting something?" A voice asked from behind them.

"Good morning, Doctor." Gemma said turning to the new comer.

River turned around and was surprised when she saw the pretty young doctor standing behind them. Her dark hair was pulled back in low messy bun and she was dressed in a pair of sea foam scrubs. From her stiff demeanor and the edge to Gemma's voice she was clear that there was tension between the two women. "Gemma," the doctor said with a nod.

"River this is Dr. Tara Knowles, Tara this is River Garcia she's Happy's girl." Gemma introduced them.

"It's nice to meet you," River said as she shook the doctor's hand.

"Like wise." Tara replied then turned back to Gemma, "So I'm sure you want to go over Abel's progress."

"Yes but first I want to see my grandson." Gemma said, "I'll leave you ladies to talk. River needs a good OB maybe you can help her out, she's new here doesn't really know anyone yet."

"Oh sure." Tara said the tone of her voice that of surprise as she watched Gemma walk into the NICU. She turned back to River. "How far along are you?"

"Seven weeks." River said. "I'd just had it confirmed before I came here."

"I'll get some information together for you." She said, "So you're Happy's girl, I didn't know he had one."

"Neither did he," River said, she went on to explain how she'd met Happy.

Gemma came out of the nursery a while later and listened while Tara gave her the run through of how Abel had done through the night. Once they were done she and River headed back to the car, "Is she always like that?" River asked.

"Like what?" Gemma asked, "She didn't say anything to you did she?"

River shook her head, "No she was polite but she has a huge stick jammed up her ass."

Gemma laughed, "I definitely like you."

The morning quickly turned into afternoon and after a quick lunch and a trip to the market Gemma took River back to T-M. River still was a little overwhelmed with everything that was going on in her life. She'd never expected things to happen exactly the way they were. While some things seemed to be settled there was still so much she didn't understand. When she'd met Tara earlier, it was easy to just go along with Gemma when she'd said that River was Happy's girl. She wasn't sure if that was an accurate description of what was going on between them. "You alright baby?" Gemma asked as she parked the car and popped the trunk.

"Just tired," River said as they climbed out of the car.

"First trimester wears you out." Gemma agreed as she opened the trunk and grabbed a few bags before motioning one of the prospects over to help. "A few weeks and you'll have your energy back and then some."

"I hope so." River said helping Gemma.

Half-Sack gave Clay, who was across the lot talking to Jax, a slightly worried look before walking up to Gemma and River. "Hey Gemma, do you have the number for the septic guy?"

"Piney fill the tanks again?" Gemma asked.

He gave her a sheepish grin, "Yeah….no someone's been flushing lace panties."

River blinked, "Lace panties?"

Gemma shook her head, "I don't even know what to say to that. Hang on it's in the office."

"I'll take those." River said taking the bags that Gemma was holding. They didn't make it very far when a bright yellow VW Beatle sped into the parking lot. The door was shoved opened and slammed shut and a petite woman climbed out of the car. Both River and Half-Sack recognized Cherry, she'd been a sweetbutt for the Devil's Tribe and had spent the night getting to know Sack before spending the rest of the night with Clay. River had a sense of dread in her stomach; this was not going to go well.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Clay growled as he came charging towards Half Sack.

"I didn't invite her here." Half Sack said with an edge to his voice as he walked away.

"Look I'm not here to cause trouble." Cherry said trying to push past Clay to chase down Half-Sack. "I just…let me go talk to someone." The tone of her voice was almost pleading.

"You can go talk to someone at some other charter you got that sweet butt?" Clay asked then turned to Jax, "Get her out of here."

"Let's go." Jax said grabbing her by her arm and leading her to her car. Before he had a chance to help her, or rather shove her into it, the girl jerked away from him and climbed into the car before speeding away. It was clear that this wasn't going to be the last time they'd heard from her. She needed some time to regroup and think of a game plan.

"I-I'm gonna go get you that number." Gemma said and headed towards the garage.

River could tell by the look on Gemma's face that she was upset she thrust the bags she was holding into Jax's arms and followed her into the office. "Gemma, are you alright?" she asked, the older woman was standing in front of her desk with a rolodex card in her shaking hand. It was clear by the look on her face that she was close to tears.

"Who is that girl?" Gemma asked with a barely noticeable quiver to her voice.

"Some slut who was at the patch over party," River said helping Gemma into her chair.

Gemma nodded, "Did Clay fuck that slut?"

River looked away and then back at Gemma, she knew that lying to the older woman would do her no good. She already knew the truth she just wanted conformation. "Yeah." She sighed. She wished that there was something that she could do to make this better but she knew there was nothing. "Do you…need anything?"

"Just…go please." She said her eyes glistening with tears.

River nodded before walking out of the office.

* * *

Happy leaned against the door frame watching River, he liked how she looked curled up in his bed her long hair spilling down her back. He liked the way the slanting evening light shined through the high windows of his room and made the auburn tones in her hair shine. Slowly he walked on into the room and pushed the door shut making sure it clicked into place quietly. He slipped his kutte off and laid it over the back of the chair along with his gun holster. He pulled the knife he wore at his waist off of his belt and laid it on the night stand before kicking his boots off and laying down on the bed with her. He kept his movements slow; he was still half worried that she was sick, he did want to do anything that would disturb her. He slid behind her so that her back was pressed against his front. He pushed her hair from her face and looked down at her studying her delicate features. He had no idea what it was about her, a woman he barely knew, that made him want to throw all of his rules to the wind. There was so much that scared him, it was odd. He was used to being the thing that people were terrified of. He ran his hand over her side before slipping it around her and splaying across her belly. It was hard for him to believe that there was something inside of her growing, something that he'd helped create. He wondered a lot of things, if he could be a father, if the things he'd done in the past would come back to bite him on the ass.

Slowly River rolled over and looked up at Happy, "Hey there." She said laying her head on his bicep.

"I didn't mean to wake you." He said running his hand down her back.

"I wasn't really sleeping exactly." She closed her eyes and enjoyed the way he was touching her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked massaging small circles into the smooth skin of her back.

"Better." She assured him.

"How was your day with Gemma?" he asked his hand moving up to tease the back of her neck.

"It was good, I really like her." She said then closed her eyes and purred softly, "That's nice."

"Sit up." He said.

"Alright," River said, slowly she pushed herself up, giving him her back and pulled her hair over her shoulder. Happy set up behind her and pushed the thin straps of her camisole down over her shoulders. He let his eyes trail over her smooth bronze skin before her began working the tension from her neck and shoulders. "Mmmm." She purred softly, "Keep that up and I'd be willing to give you anything."

Happy grinned, "Anything?"

She looked over her shoulder at him, her amber eyes meeting his coal colored ones. "Anything."

He cupped her chin in his hand as he studied her beautiful face; slowly he leaned down and claimed her lips in a hungry kiss.

River moaned softly against Happy's lips as her tongue tangled with his. She ran her hand up the back of his neck and over the back of his head holding him against her. Everything about him overwhelmed her from the way he touched her to the way he tasted. Never before had she felt so comfortable, so confident with a man. Oddly enough, it was a man she barely knew. Happy slowly he broke the kiss and pulled back enough to turn her to face him before pulling her into his lap to straddle him. He didn't know what it was about River that made him want things; any other woman he brought in this room knew that they were there for one thing. The put their face on the mattress stuck their ass in the air and he did his thing. There was no kissing, no touching, definitely no spending the night. When he was done they got the fuck out. From the moment he'd met River he knew that there was something about her that was different that made him feel different. They were snapped from the moment when River's phone buzzed on the bedside table. "Hang on." She said pulling back.

"Just ignore it." He groaned before claiming her lips again.

River laughed, "It could be important." She said reaching over to grab the phone. She looked at the call ID before answering the call, "Hey daddy." She said.

Happy's eyes went wide, "Daddy?" he mouthed looking up at her. That was the last thing he expected, sure he knew that she probably had family tucked back in Indian Hills. He knew that she hadn't just sprung out of a hole in the ground but he hadn't given much thought to them. He himself had come from a very small family his mom and Aunt were the only ones that he still had a relationship with. He'd learned a long time ago that family was what you made it his Sons of Anarchy brothers had filled any empty gap that he might have at one time had. He was just getting used to the idea that he was going to be adding two new people to that circle. He hadn't factored in the fact that she came with her own people as well.

She nodded, "No, things are fine here. I'm not sure when I'm going to come back…daddy I can't tell him that." She said with a laugh. "Don't worry, I'll keep in touch and let you know when I'll be back to Indian Hills. I just gotta get things settled here first." After giving her father her love she ended the call and looked back at Happy. "Now where were we?" she nipped his lips gently.

Happy bit back a groan, before pulling back, "Hang on a second." He said looking up at her as he smoothed her hair from her face.

River frowned, "What is it?"

"Are you sure you want to do this? I mean move here to Charming, you have family that can help you in Indian Hills." He said cupping her cheek.

"I figured you above all people would understand that family comes in all sorts of disguises." She said looking up at him. "You and this baby are my family now too. Besides I have some extended family in Oakland."

Happy nodded, "I just…can't ask you to give them up."

"And nobody said that you were. Just because we'll be a few hundred miles away doesn't mean we're still not family." She said.

Happy nodded, part of him knew that he was only giving her pleasantries. He hadn't given any thought to the fact that she had family in Indian Hills and how much she'd be giving up to move here. He knew that it had to be painful for her; after all he knew how hard it was for him when he was part of the Tacoma Sons charter. He'd always felt like there were two parts to him, the killer and the man. There was something about River that soothed the killer and gave hope to the man. "Good." He said.

"Yeah," River agreed as she leaned up and kissed him again.


End file.
